LOS ANGELES (WNCN) – Former Duke men’s basketball star and 15-year NBA veteran JJ Redick agreed to a four-year deal to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Redick met with Lakers vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss over the weekend before getting offered the job on Thursday morning, the report states. He most recently worked as a TV analyst for ESPN, but has never coached at the professional or amateur level.
He became an early front-runner for the job before the Lakers set their eyes on Connecticut men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley, who turned down a six-year, $70 million offer last week, the report says.
Redick, who’s one of the most prolific scorers in NCAA history, accumulated 2,769 career points while also earning National Player of the Year honors in 2005 and 2006. He also spearheaded the Blue Devils to a 116-23 record, which includes two Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season titles, three conference tournament championships, four NCAA Tournament berths as well as a Final Four appearance in 2004.
Redick graduated from Duke as the all-time NCAA leader in three-point field goals (457) and the ACC career leader in total points.
After being selected as No. 11 overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA Draft, he racked up 12,028 points, 1,903 rebounds, 1,862 assists and 1,950 three-pointers made over the course of 15 seasons. Along with the Magic, he played with the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks. Redick finished his professional career among the top 20 players in NBA history in both three-point field goals and three-point field goal percentage (.415).
On Tuesday, Redick was announced as one of nine new members set to be inducted into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame.